Pokemon Stat Changes (Status Afflictions)

By Matt

To make battles even more exciting (and more unpredictable), status conditions were added in addition to stat modifications. A status condition is one of the following: Poisoned (PSN), Burned (BRN), Paralyzed (PAR), Sleep (SLP), Frozen (FRZ), or Confused. You may know these exist, but not of their hidden effects, so let’s go over them one by one.

Poison is the status affliction which takes away HP over time. There is no change to the Pokemon’s stats: it just pressures them into making better moves before they faint. These kinds of moves are usually utilized by Grass- and Poison-types, and a particular move, Toxic, will “badly poison the opponent”. Normal poisoning (PoisonPowder, the ability Poison Point, etc.) takes out 1/8 of the opponent’s HP every turn. Moves like Toxic will start out with 1/16 HP loss, but increase by 1/16 over time. That means by the 4th turn of severe poisoning, 5/8 of the Pokemon’s HP will be lost (1/16 + 2/16 + 3/16 + 4/16).

The condition Burned may not be as harsh, but is still a major setback. These kinds of moves are used by Grass- or Fire-types. Like poison, the Pokemon will lose 1/8 HP each turn. But, hidden out of sight, the Pokemon’s Attack will lower two stages (that’s half of the Attack gone, if you’ve read about Stat Modifications).

You can use Will-o-wisp for a sure-fire burn, or a move with a side effect of burn (like Scald). Paralysis does not cause any HP loss, but makes the playing field fairer for slow Pokemon.

Moves that paralyze are used by mainly Grass- or Electric-types. Paralysis will slow down a Pokemon, making others able to strike first, and there is a 25% chance that the paralyzed Pokemon cannot move the next turn. The condition of Sleep is like a gamble: it will last from 1 to 5 turns. The probability that a Pokemon will wake up is targeted toward the median, which is around 3 turns. If you’re lucky, though, you can get back in action the next turn and still be able to attack. Moves like Hypnosis are risky (50% accuracy), but Yawn will always have the target fall asleep after the next turn.

Freeze is a rare status condition, as there are no moves to directly freeze Pokemon; they are side effects of mostly Ice-type moves like Ice Beam or Blizzard. Like the condition of Sleep, it is unknown when a Pokemon will thaw out. Fire-type moves will thaw them out; otherwise, waiting is the only other option.

Finally, Confusion is caused directly and indirectly. Moves like Confuse Ray will cause confusion, but others, like Psybeam or Hurricane, will have a small chance of confusing the target. When a Pokemon is confused, it has a 50% chance of attacking itself. The PP of the selected move will not go down, but depending on your Pokemon’s Attack stat, it can deal a lot of damage in one attack. Pokemon tend to break out of confusion earlier than Sleep or Freeze, but all of these conditions have something in common. Berries are the solution to all of these afflictions; each one can cure its own status condition. Another option is by purchasing man-made items which will not take effect as a hold item (Full Heal, Full Restore, etc.). Status afflictions can change the course of battle a lot, and it’s very fun to experiment with.

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